Notes On Content

Bits in salmon-pink are later additions, notes or further information supplied by others.

Bits in Khaki-green are 'work-in-progress' listings and anyone is welcome to add missing details, whether single items or whole chunks.

All photographs are 6.5 (old Fuji), 8.3 (Samsung) or 16 (new Nikon) Mpx, and most will blow up to greater than screen size if you hover on them and click. However I've noticed some of the older images aren't enlarging, this is probably a Blogger/Picasa/date/traffic/auto-archive thing?

If you think you can add some information, or identify any of the 'unknowns', please use the comment feature rather than emailing me.

Please report any dead links, and suggest any links you think should/could be added.

NoteI have now found out how to switch-off the slide-show thingy, so just clicking on the photographs will open them on a whole page where most will then enlarge further with another click - if the cursor is in a 'plus' sign.

This doesn't seem to work for some of the older posts, this is a Blogger/Internet coding change thing I can do nothing about, one day I'll update or replace the more important ones but that's years away.

Manufacturers A-Z

About Me

I’m a 51-year-old Aspergic CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

I promised we'd start Rack Toy Month with
an image-heavy, blurb-light look at Amscan,
and this is that post, all sent to the Blog by Brian Burke - so many thanks to
him - and all current or recent (last year's-) Amscan production/US issues which should still be track-down-able.

Pencil rubbers/erasers, some of which
appear to have had a pncil-sharpener stuffed in their open mouths, or somewhere
even more uncomfortable!

Stretchy-aliens (and catapult'able!) and dinosaur skeletons;
Dinosaur skeletons have been a common trope for a while now, and there's
probably enough out there for a small sub-collection should anyone feel so
inclined!

Small vehicles with enough plastic to earn
their right to feature here! Three pick-up trucks, three dog-catcher vans and
two puddle-jumpers, it's a cheap way of providing transport for war-games
armies?

And a bulk set of animals, there seem to be
3x12, and while they are not in-scale with each-other, they are a bargain if
you've got kids and a party happening at the same time, compared to some of the
'party favours' you see over here, these are good!

'Cheepie' die-cast sports cars, and
all-plastic F1 types, I love the latter, it's a pity there are six identical
cars though, if they were all different colours they'd be more use, but
anything with an HO figure in the cockpit scores brownie-points with me!

Whistles, qualifying for the Blog under the
novelty banner, you can see from the backgrounds that there are bags of one
type in older packaging and mixed bags in last-years graphics and it seems State News is the place to look for all
these - if you're over the pond - as I know Brian shot them together in a session.

Both sides of some wacky, googlie-eyed, alien-head,
key-rings - what else can one say about them, that's all the bases covered!

Shifting table-tennis/ping-pong balls out
of season! Or should that be wiff-waff now?

Notes on Below Index

For those not used to Blogger, the below 'index' allows you to find similar posts by their content, just click on the label (word) that best suits you search needs. I have tried to label by

- Country of origin of toy- Country represented by toy- Maker- Material- Scale/Size/Ratio- Era represented by toy- Whether subject is civil/military- Other 'themes'Etc...

Re-annotating the index is an ongoing project, in the meantime to save on space (there is a limit on the number of characters and the number of labels) I have started using abbreviations, which are as follows:

Copyright (C) Hugh Walter 2009-2014

The moral and legal right of Hugh Walter to be identified as the author of these works (excepting the layout and code supplied by Blogger/Blogspot and/or their agents) is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This blog presents images and text subject to the condition that the authored contents shall not, by way of trade or otherwise be lent, sold, hired-out or otherwise circulated publicly in any form, nor should any part of these works be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system (other than the servers of Blogger/Blogspot and/or Google and/or their nominated agents) or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, other than being downloaded by an individual for his own private use and not for subsequent re-publishing in any form whatsoever.

Any individual wishing to re-publish an image should obtain the authors permission by eMail beforehand, stating destination of image and context within which the image is required.